Bard Associates Inc. Reduces Stake in Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC)

Bard Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in Barings BDC, Inc. (NYSE:BBDC) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 68,175 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the period. Bard Associates Inc.’s holdings in Barings BDC were worth $652,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BBDC. Private Management Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Barings BDC by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 3,084,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,516,000 after purchasing an additional 83,408 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Barings BDC by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,347,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,470,000 after purchasing an additional 79,994 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Barings BDC in the 3rd quarter valued at about $10,549,000. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Barings BDC by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 756,340 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,238,000 after purchasing an additional 15,781 shares during the period. Finally, Confluence Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Barings BDC by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC now owns 517,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,955,000 after purchasing an additional 2,399 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 44.09% of the company’s stock.

Barings BDC Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BBDC opened at $10.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.02 and a beta of 0.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 0.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Barings BDC, Inc. has a 52-week low of $8.96 and a 52-week high of $10.85. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.87.

Barings BDC (NYSE:BBDC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $70.63 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $69.35 million. Barings BDC had a net margin of 38.54% and a return on equity of 10.94%. Equities research analysts forecast that Barings BDC, Inc. will post 1.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Barings BDC Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 5th will be given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 5th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.98%. Barings BDC’s payout ratio is 100.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Barings BDC news, insider Michael James O’connor sold 29,424 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.70, for a total transaction of $285,412.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Stephen R. Byers acquired 8,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.73 per share, with a total value of $82,559.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,001 shares in the company, valued at $486,509.73. This trade represents a 20.44 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders purchased 14,048 shares of company stock valued at $136,772. 0.45% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Barings BDC

Barings BDC, Inc is a publicly traded, externally managed investment company that has elected to be treated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. It seeks to invest primarily in senior secured loans, first lien debt, unitranche, second lien debt, subordinated debt, equity co-investments and senior secured private debt investments in private middle-market companies that operate across a wide range of industries.